wrapping up august

On Saturday, I rode my bike to work. On the way home, I stopped by the grocery store to get a couple of things. Yesterday I rode out to home depot and back, and then later I rode to Belmont station and back.

16.42 miles
996.18 miles cumulative
39.8472 total gallons saved

another 14 miles.

After I rode down to the Holgate Channel on the springwater corridor to go fishing, I rode my bike back up to green dragon for lunch and a couple of beers. When I was done there, I head over to the shop to pop in for a visit, before riding to Belmont Station to grab a couple of more beers to go, and then returning home.

14.18 miles
979.76 miles cumulative
39.19042 total gallons saved

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Rode my bike down the springwater cooridor this afternoon to holgate channel and caught this bass on my second cast. I got a flat tire on the way down and had to pay to get it fixed, so i'm glad to see a little payoff so soon!

Salish pond

I took another picture of the snake a little later, I think it was better than my last one, and certainly the best I could do with my phone, which seems to be permanently set to "wide angle".

As noted in my last post, I rode my bike to Salish ponds today, between Portland and Gresham, to go fishing. I had never been there before, and had read some good things online, so I thought I'd go check it out. The DFW website said that west Salish pond was regularly stocked with rainbow trout, but that it hadn't been stocked for the last two months. I figured there must still be some fish left in it, and if not, I could at least go for some of the warm water species that live there.

I rode 19.13 miles to catch trout, and didn't.

The ponds were a big disappointment. They looked like they might have been rock quarries at one point. Whatever they were, they are now roughly round, featureless, obviously man made pits in the ground that have since been filled with water. The bank is literally the lip of a hole that drops straight down, leaving the lakes without shallows, or other natural features to hold fish. Being there 2 months since the last stocking (and one week before the next one) must have left me fishing the lakes with the least amount of fish in them that they have all year, and the results backed that up. To my credit, no one else on either lake had caught anything the entire time I was there, and there was no sign that any of them had caught anything before that either. The others surrounding the banks were mostly Mexican immigrants, with a few Ukrainians mixed in for good measure. Many of them had small children that spent the day throwing large rocks into the lakes, ensuring the few remaining fish were too spooked to feed. Bank fishing in Portland Metro is for suckers.

Lesson learned.

19.13 miles
965.58 miles cumulative
38.6232 total gallons saved

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Took my bike out to salish lakes to try to do a little fishing. Havent caught anything yet, but saw a couple frogs, two osprey, and this snake. Still hoping to hook something.

portland adult soapbox derby day

pigs in space, immediately after this picture, they blasted me with a water cannon.

this one was my favorite that I got to see in the first couple of races. welded steel belly tanker looking thing. Fast!

mouse trap!

I started the day off right today, by biking up to the top of Mt. Tabor to check out the Portland Adult Soapbox Derby for a bit before work. The derby was a blast. My only regret was not having more time to hang out and watch the rest of the race. Biking up Tabor was a bit easier this time than the last time I did it, which was pretty gratifying after all the biking and walking and hiking I've been doing this year.

The ride up tabor and back to the house was 2.16 miles.

Afterward, I rode my bike to work, where I am now. I'll be riding home later, stopping at apizza scholls for dinner on my way.

9.36 miles today
929.85 miles cumulative
37.194 total gallons saved

yesterday

yesterday I rode my bike down hawthorne to get my hair cut, before coming back to the house. Later, I walked down to the store with my wife and our friend from out of town, hitting a restaurant and a few bars on the way down there.

6 miles.

Today we're going to go into the gorge and check out the tunnel falls trail again. I've been before with a friend, but we were pressed for time, so I didn't make it to the end of the trail that trip. I thought it would be a good one to take the girls on since it's a relatively easy trail, and well maintained. Plus, there are plenty of rewards along the way.

6 miles
920.49 miles cumulative
36.8196 total gallons saved

tuesday and pambiche

I had off yesterday, but I still rode my bike to the shop and back to accompany my wife. I had hoped to check out a pet store in NE while I was out there, to see a bike trailer I was considering, but they were temporarily out of stock so I just rode home.

Towards the end of the work day, I rode to Pambiche to meet my wife, room mate, sister, and sister's family for dinner. It was my first time there, and the food was pretty good. We stopped by my sister's house after dinner, and then finished our ride home.

At pambiche, I had a brazilian beer that I had never had before; but yesterday, I started a blog to write just about beer, so I'll cover that there.

It can be found at rocknroseinc.com/beercave.htm
or directly at thebeercave.blogspot.com

13.6 today
914.49 miles cumulative
36.5796 total gallons saved

no case of the mondays here.

I had off of work today, and wanted to go on a long bike ride, but I got caught up with some errands, so I decided to stay close. I skipped breakfast, so come the afternoon, I found myself looking up recipes on the internet.

I decided I was going to make some traditional Hungarian chicken paprikas for dinner; so I called up Edelweiss to see if they had any imported Hungarian paprika in stock so I could do it right. Turns out they did, so I swung by on my bike and picked some up. I've read over and over that if you want to make good hungarian food, that you need to use real hungarian paprika. The spanish stuff in the grocery store just wont cut it. I've been making do with what I had, so I'm looking forward to the real thing tonight.

After Edelweiss, I cut over to new seasons for the rest of the ingredients I needed (as well as a cantillon gueze and a green flash imperial IPA), and then I came home. That will probably be the extent of my riding today. We'll see.

5.67 today
900.89 miles cumulative
36.0356 total gallons saved

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(old rasputin on nitro at green dragon)

Today was a good day for riding bikes. I started out riding a new route to work, to take advantage of the SE edition of sunday parkways , an event that turns a course of streets into car free temporary "parks" connecting the permanent parks in the area, making one big park. The bike traffic was fantastic. Too many people to move as fast as i'd like, but the quantity really added a lot of energy to the event. Along the route, there was free water, lemonade, iced coffee, etc., as well as yard sales, performers, and festival like events in all the permanent parks. On my way home i stopped at green dragon for dinner and beer, before returning home. I had an old rasputin on nitro, and a rogue imperial porter with a buffalo chicken sandwich and fries. Delicious! Yesterday i also rode to work and back. The weather has been good, and i've really been enjoying myself. I'm off most of this week, so i hope to get a nice long ride in. We'll see.

On a side note, i noticed myself in the mirror today just before i hopped in the shower. All this walking and biking has thickened my legs quite a bit. Now I need to take up rowing or something to even everything out.

(sent from my phone from green dragon)

14.4 miles this week
895.22 miles cumulative
35.8088 total gallons saved

another week down

Another pretty uneventful week this week. I've ridden my bike to work 6 times since my last post, and then a 7th to accompany my wife to work. I also went up to the top of Multnomah falls again with some visitors from out of town. I also took them on a walk from the house to horsebrass and back. I'm probably missing a few walks and rides here and there, but nothing significant.

Today was the Providence Bridge Pedal here in town. It's the second largest community bike ride in the country, and the third in the world. It would have been neat to check out, but I found out about it a bit too late this year. Maybe next time. I might just follow the same route myself sometime soon. There wont be the same kind of comradery, but then again, I'm not that social anyway.

I haven't been on any epic walks or rides in a few weeks. I think it was the combination of the heat and having so many visitors in town lately. I have the next few days off, and the weather is a bit cooler, so maybe I'll have to plan something good.

54.6 miles this week
880.82 miles cumulative
35.2328 total gallons saved